Reviews by bschinelli:

Can anyone say Colt 45? I bought this because I had 2 seconds in our groceries beer dept. and thought at a glance that it was a variation of the Ridgeway Brewing Company's "elf" series. I was sadly mistaken. It poured a clear gold into the glass with an off white head that disappeared as I put the bottle down. No lacing, but some effervescent bubbling the entire time it's in the glass. The first sniff gives off banana and light clove, and some alcohol. Are there any hops in here? Taste wise, lots of malt sweetness with nothing to balance it. Banana dominates, with the boozy flavor strong in the finish. This beer is light in the mouth, no complex flavors. If you want to get there quick, this is the bus to take.

Overall, I'm unimpressed. It's not a bock, or even a good barley wine. This is alchohol served up in a palatable form.

Pours a light, clear amber with visible carbonation. Only a small head is produced with a moderate pour, and this has poor retention.

Aroma: Sweet odor, mainly of light malt.

Taste: Taste follows the aroma, with a flavor that, to me, is mildly too sweet. Clearly, there are rather minimal, and insufficient, hops here. Another complaint is labelling: this is not a standard dopplebock. It does have fairly high ABV, like most dopplebocks. The high ABV is somewhat evident in both the aroma and, more so, the taste, but not such as I'd complain about it.

M: medium body, yet with a trace of wateryness; some alcohol warming.

O: no a bad beer. OK as a holiday gift, with the fun labelling, high ABV and all, but not a beer that

Sampled at Eastern Europe tasting at the Tops Tasting Room in Tempe. Light in taste, big in booze. Above average mouthfeel, but offset by the booziness. Other taste, some malting. Mix between a malt liquor and a dopplebock.Nothing I would recommend or try again.

Clear deep golden color with two fingers of off white head. Some splotches of lace.
Smell is grain bin with some sugary notes.
Taste is big sweet grainy malts. Any hop bitterness is almost an after thought.
Mouthfeel is medium to full and good carbonation. Finish is slightly wet and mostly sweet.
Overall would I buy this again? Maybe as a winter warmer. Pretty tasty higher end Malt Liquor.

Saw this interesting looking guy on the shelf at Julios. A 9.5% doppelbock from Lithuania, how can you go wrong... Poured into my La Chouffe tulip since the missing elf on the label reminded me of the Chouffe gnome.

A: Wow, brilliantly crystal clear so much so I can easily watch the game through it, except upside down. It's a golden honey color with little bubbles floating up. A light creamy head forms at first, then fades to small clumps of bubbles around.

N: Starts with a light crisp lager like nose, with hints of honey and sweet malts. Digger deeper reveals the slightest hints of European malts, touches of alcohol sweetness, almost Belgian candi sugar, and quite a bit like a Belgian tripel.

T: Starts pretty sweet, as one would expect. More European/Belgian like malt. Some bitterness starts to come through a bit and it starts to dry off very fast long before the sip is even finished. Some honey flavors come out, and fermented honey dryness. Some interesting earthy flavors come out as well that I can't really say where they are from, perhaps the yeast, and adds almost the faintest hint of metal. It hides the alcohol pretty well with the initial sweetness, and I only get the slightest alcohol warmth.

M: Medium body with lower carbonation.

F: Very dry but still slightly sticky. It leaves your mouth fresh feeling like mouthwash even though there was no initial alcohol burn your mouth feels it after, with a touch of stickiness. It also has that earthy bitterness lingering a bit as well. The honey flavor seems to linger as well for a while and presents that dry feel and even dry flavor. It's also pretty dangerous as halfway through the beer I can already feel it getting on top of me being 9.5% and doesn't feel like it at all.

Not bad for I think my first beer from Lithuania. They did a pretty good version of a doppelbock, a little too much honey, and not enough carbonation, but otherwise pretty drinkable and tasty.

I was down in DC around the 2015 holidays (ostensibly) to visit my aunt & uncle, but partially to seek out new beers to drink. I was on my way back to their place from the Friendship Heights Metro station when I saw a window advertisement for World Market and something flashed in my mind that they carry a small assortment of beers & so I went in to take a look. The selection was not all that impressive, although I managed to build a mixed sixer and on the way out, I spied this bottle sitting on a clearance table. While most people might run in the other direction from such things, for me, it was a clarion call!

From the bottle: "European Beer"; "Brewery Rinkuškiai was established in the year 1991 in Birzai region known as Beer Country in Lithuania. Rinkuškiai ber quality is the result of old traditions of Beer Country, experience of the past generations, and innovations of the modern days. That makes Rinkuškiai beer one of the most exclusive in Lithuania. Beer Missing Elf is naturally fermented, the most heating and famous beer of Beer Country." Phew! That read like they fed a whole buncha verbiage into Google Translate & hit "Enter".

A Pop! of the cap, a heavy-handed pour & I was off and running. The resulting two fingers of frothy, bubbly, bone-white head exhibited great retention & left some nice lacing behind in falling. Color was Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-plus quality clarity, enabling me to see into the future. I was interrupted in my thoughts by the arrival of the Gelt Gang - Croesus, Mammon & Midas, all wanting a taste and I am not one to turn them away, especially since there was 1 Pt. 0.9 Fl. Oz. of it, which is 500-ml more than I probably need. Nose was very sweet, almost sugary, with an underlying fusel alcohol burn. I see where this is taking me. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was VERY sweet, but actually not too bad. It had a definite burn on my tongue, but it gave 'way to a honey-like sweetness that was at least indicative of a lager. I really think that it was much closer to a Maibock, but I am not going to argue with their labeling. The finish had the warming quality of which they spoke on the label, not really hot, per se, but that warm glow in one's belly that lets you know that alcohol was involved. Was it worthwhile? Heck, yeah! How often does one get to drink Lithuanian beer in the U.S.? It was a curiosity that I purchased at a clearance rate, so unless it makes me feel as crappy as a Manjit & Ravinder Minhas product does, it gets a passing grade. Again, think of it as a mislabeled, cheap Maibock and you will be just fine.

Pours a two finger white head that that vanishes without a trace of lace. Crystal clear almost light amber color, unusual for a DB. Malt/nut nose. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Flavor is sweet nutty malt. High ABV is hidden. Better as it warms. Cool label. $3.20 for a 500ml bottle from Tully's Beer & Wine Wells, Me.